Archives: California

Lessons from 2021 on Avoiding Class Action Claims for Meal and Rest Break Violations in California

In 2021, the California Supreme Court handed down two important decisions, Donohue v. AMN Services, LLC and Ferra v. Loews Hollywood, LLC, that reinforce and refine tried-and-true lessons about meal and rest breaks. As California employers look ahead to their 2022 goals and try to lessen their risk of class action employment claims based on … Continue Reading

Divided Ninth Circuit Reinstates Part of California’s Anti-Arbitration Law

By Greg Mersol and Joseph S. Persoff on September 22, 2021 Posted in Antitrust, Arbitration, California, Supreme Court, Uncategorized

For many years, state and federal courts in California have opposed arbitration and have manufactured frameworks under which they become unenforceable despite the clear directives of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) and countless Supreme Court cases. While a string of Supreme Court cases over the past decade gave employers some respite, the Ninth Circuit has … Continue Reading

California Employers Must Pay Meal and Rest Period Premiums at the Regular Rate of Pay

By Joseph S. Persoff on July 15, 2021 Posted in California

When a California nonexempt employee is not provided a meal or rest period, Cal. Labor Code 226.7 requires an employer to pay a penalty to that employee in the amount of one hour of that employee’s “regular rate of compensation.” It was an open question whether an employee’s “regular rate of compensation” meant the employee’s … Continue Reading

Order Sending Former Mail Sorter to Arbitration Teaches Some Lessons About Who Is a Transportation Worker and Agreement Coverage

By John Lewis on March 1, 2021 Posted in Arbitration, Arbitration Agreements, California

Since 2019, we have been tracking the decisions struggling to interpret the scope of the Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) Section 1 exemption for transportation workers. In other words, we’ve looked at who qualifies as a transportation worker “actually engaged in the movement of goods in interstate commerce,” as Circuit City Stores Inc. v. Adams, 532 … Continue Reading

Something Is Rotten in the State of California? Ride Share Misclassification Ruling Is Merely Act I

By Todd Lebowitz on August 13, 2020 Posted in California

“To be or not to be” are the opening words of a soliloquy by Prince Hamlet. With that, I have exhausted what I remember about Shakespearean plays without consulting Wikipedia. Having consulted Wikipedia, I can confirm that this soliloquy occurs in Hamlet, Act III, Scene 1. A lot happens in Act III and beyond, and if … Continue Reading